Hydra

hydra video

Daphnia Magna

Daphnia Magna are a larger species of water flea found in most ponds, rivers, and lakes in North America. If you swam in a lake, you were probably swimming with these harmless water insects. They are part of the food chain and provide food for small fish, and they eat algae. This was a very interesting microorganism to study, because it is transparent and the body parts can easily be identified. Detailed scientific drawings are available on line to help identify the body parts. The beating heart can be see and changes with temperature. The eggs and embryo’s can also be seen. Daphnia are a good specimen to start in microscopy.

Measure the field of view of your new microscope, in other words the width of the magnified image. One can use a plain ruler as shown in the picture to do this. Using the microscope at 20X, measure the distance that can be seen across the ruler. As shown in this picture the field of view at 20 X is about 11 mm. The field of view at 200X is 2.2 mm. If the dial was correct dialing from 20X to 200X would be a factor of 10 and enlarge an 11 mm field to 1.1. In reality, it seem the range is only a factor of 5X, not 10X.

Video on the unpacking and assembly of the USB microscope and stand.

WELCOME TO MICROWORLD

Ludwig van Beethoven said, “Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.” In light of his quote, I hope to lead the students not only to practice the art of microscopy, but moreover into the secret of the microorganism that live in the world under the lens in hope of raising them to the awe and wonder for science.

Welcome to the “Micro-world class.” The objective of this class is to teach the student about the history of the microscope, how to use a microscope, and to examine microorganisms at a magnification of 10 to 100 that we normally do not see. The goal of this course is to provide a sense of awe and wonder of science and pique the student’s curiosity to delve further into the knowledge of these microorganisms on their own.

The mission of PAGE is to serve intellectually gifted children early in their lives and to promote the recognition of their significantly different educational needs.  My mission is to create inspirational science experiments, assemble kits, deliver courses, and publish materials for young scientists. My slogan is every kitchen an experiment, every bedroom a project, and garage a laboratory.

I use living materials from Carolina Biologicals. From their beginnings in 1927, Carolina Biological Supply Company has grown to become a leading supplier of science teaching materials. I have been using their material for over 22 years for Super Saturday and their living materials have been high quality. All the specimens are harmless to humans. http://www.carolina.com/our-company/about-us

I have underestimated the cost of supplying the class with this living material and would like to request more lab fees. It turned out that the cost of handling and shipping of live materials is about 100% of the cost of the materials themselves. We will have eight students, and the cost of the class supplies divided by eight is $40. I would like to ask for $40 in lab fees. I did advertise $25 for lab fee in the bulletin, and will honor the $25 amount advertised if you do not feel comfortable with the new request of $40.

I would like each parent to volunteer to help for two classes I plan to divide the class into two sections and ask each parent to monitor and control a section providing help when needed.